American Library Association E-books Taskforce continues open dialogue with HarperCollins

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Library Association (ALA) Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) E-books Taskforce Chair Bonnie Tijerina today released the following statement, thanking HarperCollins for attending the taskforce’s business meeting during ALA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

The discussion followed HarperCollins’ February announcement of its current policy under which new titles licensed from library e-book vendors are restricted to 26 circulations. The license then expires.

“HarperCollins has had previous discussions with libraries about e-books, and this type of open dialogue is valued by our members and contributes to the overall understanding of the e-book environment. We hope our discussion will serve as a model for conversations with other stakeholders,” Tijerina said.

“One important outcome of our discussion is that HarperCollins will contribute to the E-books Taskforce’s series of answers to frequently asked questions sent to the taskforce from ALA members that cover issues from basic questions about e-book readers to specific questions about licensing. Our taskforce released its first FAQ addressing questions (PDF) from public libraries and will release more to address questions from school and academic libraries. HarperCollins’ contribution will give the publisher’s perspective.

HarperCollins understands that public libraries value sharing information and has expressed to us a commitment to providing models that ensure this information-sharing can continue. Libraries know publishers are seeking viable economic models so that they can continue to provide the kind of resources that the public expects at their libraries. We look forward to continuing this open dialogue so that libraries can offer the public the enhanced services available through the emerging technologies in today’s e-book environment.”

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The American Library Association's E-books Taskforce was developed by the Office for Information Technology Policy (OITP) Advisory Committee to study the many issues related to e-books and library services. Learn more at ala.org/oitp.